The Tragic Implosion of Venezuela

Source: DataIsBeautiful.com  Click to enlarge.

In 1950 Venezuela was the 4th wealthiest nation per capita in the world and the richest nation in South America. Can you believe it? Today millions have fled the country into South American neighbors with massive increases in crime and cultural challenges.

The country's difficulties didn't happen overnight, but when nations fail they fall hard. This year the inflation rate increased 10,000,000%, which is a number that doesn't even make sense.

What's going on? Venezuela sits on the richest oil reserves in the world. Well, it's another case of the richest getting richer while the food lines grow longer. Children faint in school from hunger. The murder rate has skyrocketed.

Photo by Richard Jaimes
on Unsplash

According to a 2018 article in Foreign Affairs titled Venezuela's Suicide, "Its schools lie half deserted. The health system has been devastated by decades of underinvestment, corruption, and neglect; long-vanquished diseases, such as malaria and measles, have returned. Only a tiny elite can afford enough to eat. An epidemic of violence has made it one of the most murderous countries in the world. It is the source of Latin America’s largest refugee migration in a generation, with millions of citizens fleeing in the last few years alone."

A year later and it seems everyone with means to do so has fled, though many from the educated and professional classes have remained and continue to protest their government. As of last week more than 16,400 protests have taken place this year alone.

According to a May New York Times article Venezuela's collapse is the worst ever that has not been caused by war.

Pray for the good people of Venezuela.

Related Links
Venezuela on the Brink
Venezuela's Suicide: Lessons from a Failed State
U.N. News: Misery for Venezuelans continues